A lot is happening at ArtSound. Read on for news about:

  • Young Virtuoso finals broadcast
  • Young Virtuoso Competition
  • Digital Upgrade Project
  • Listen on Demand roll-out
  • 2025: The Membership Year
  • Specialist presenters wanted
  • Programming update
  • Call for radio-drama scripts
  • ArtSound production unit
  • Canberra Southern Cross Club sponsorship
  • ArtSound’s podcasting meetup
  • Donations
  • How you can help
  • Seeking volunteers for the Welcoming Committee

Young Virtuoso Awards

The ACT Finals of the national Young Virtuoso Awards, which ArtSound hosts each year, will take place from 2-4pm on Sunday, 28 September 2025 in the ArtSound Recording Studio.

From 11 applicants, four will have been selected to compete in the finals, which ArtSound will broadcast live (FM92.7, 90.3, on DAB+, and streamed online at http://www.artsound.org.au/).

Each contestant will perform two or more works of their own choice from the classical music repertoire for a total of 20 minutes.

Young Virtuoso Competition – can you help?

Each year, as noted above, ArtSound hosts the ACT regional finals of the Young Virtuoso Competition, which identifies outstanding emerging Australian classical music performers. The event offers ArtSound an excellent opportunity to demonstrate its support for talented performers in the Canberra region.

Could you help us to stage the ACT leg of the competition? We’d be most grateful for sponsorship covering the cost of sending the ACT winner to the nationals. This year, those will be in Adelaide. We cover the regional winner’s travel and accommodation expenses to attend the final.

If you can help, please contact us at admin@artsound.fm or phone 6295 7444 Monday-Friday 10am-2pm and ask for Julie Finch-Scally.

Digital Upgrade Project

The transformation of ArtSound’s studios is well under way! In a first for Australian broadcasting, Chris Deacon has begun installing the first of several pieces of equipment sourced from Germany’s DHD.audio and funded by listener and member contributions.

Testing and detailed configuring of the gear is taking place before training begins in a few months. Says Chris: “For the technically inclined, the system will employ Dante networking commonly used through the broadcast and audio industries these days. It provides a very flexible means of linking the analog world to the digital world (ArtSound has one foot in each at the moment) and a means of future-proofing the station. We expect it will simplify the more demanding operational requirements as ArtSound continues to  expand its community program offerings on a number of digital media platforms.”

Visiting the studios in August were broadcast representatives from our equipment suppliers Qvest, Treva Head and Campbell Swinton. Qvest is working with ArtSound to assist with equipment supply and advice on setup.

Not content with one studio’s upgrade, the recent successful securing of a grant of nearly $37K from the CBF will enable similar upgrades to occur in other broadcast/production studios, setting up ArtSound nicely as a leading studio facility.

Thanks to the tech team of Chris, Rodger Bean and Marvin Jiang for their work.

Images: Installation of the first new console, in progress. Top: Chris Deacon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Listen-on-demand roll-out

Thanks to the careful planning and hard work of two technical team members, Jon Glanville and Chris Deacon, we are excited to begin rolling out a much-anticipated “Listen On Demand” feature on our website. Leon Buker has been crafting the website side of things, where you will be able to stream your favourite programs at your convenience.

So far, we’ve made just a few programs available for on-demand listening covering the previous three weeks. If this trial phase goes well, we plan to add most of our programs over the coming months.

One of the accomplishments of our developers has been to fashion a way to upload programs without dated material such as preceding news broadcasts. Many stations’ listen-back offerings are, by contrast, merely chunks of audio cut hour by hour from broadcast streams.

As an additional part of this streaming audio archives roll-out, our presenters now can upload curated playlists directly into their program postings, enhancing our audience’s experience.

You can explore how the new feature works by visiting these sample program pages:

Stay tuned! In the coming months, we will keep you updated about additional programs that have been successfully added.

Leon is initially focussing on the desktop version of the website, to optimise its functionality before tackling our mobile platform.

2025: The Membership Year 

By now most of you will know that the Governor-General, Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn AC, has agreed to be Patron of ArtSound. We’re delighted that we have her support and thank everyone on the ArtSound team who pursued this patronage.

Some in the ACT have been quick to dismiss ArtSound as “just” a radio station. We are far more than that and the Governor-General’s endorsement gives us an opportunity to strengthen our profile in the Canberra community and continue the decades of support we have given to local arts and artists.

However, we need more than a high-profile patronage to achieve our goal of making Canberra one of Australia’s great centres of the arts.  

We need you.

Without the volunteers and members who provide both resources and financial support we cannot optimally function. While grants cover some of our technical and transmission costs, it is membership fees and donations that support our day-to-day activities. That is why we have designated 2025 as The Membership Year and have set a goal of doubling our membership by December. (Currently membership dues account for less than 10 percent of our annual income; can we bump that up to, say, 15 percent by year’s end?)

With that in mind, we thank you for being part of ArtSound and ask that you continue to help by encouraging family and friends to join our team.

Fire preparedness

During August, some ArtSound volunteers received their annual training in fire preparedness. Here’s Tim McNamara learning how to combat flames.

Are you our next specialist presenter?

Do you have good knowledge of an area of arts practice that could make for compelling arts radio?

ArtSound is always interested in hearing from potential presenters who would like to create programs about specialist areas of arts in and around the ACT, or the world.

At the moment, we have such programs in, for example, contemporary classical music, and bluegrass music, and the frontiers of jazz. We also have regular broadcasts in classical music, jazz, blues, world music, and much else, including an assortment of local concert presentations, primarily in classical music and jazz.

But perhaps you have specialised knowledge in, say, opera, or film music, or radiophonic art, or non-music subjects related to arts or culture… or history or heritage… You tell us!

We can provide training in the relatively simple tasks involved in long- or short-form programming — either live to air or via pre-recording.

Please write to programmingcommittee@artsound.fm and we’ll get in touch to discuss the possibilities.

Programming update

ArtSound will run Series 2 of A Reading Life for 10 weeks from 7 September, while producer Bart Meehan completes post production work on the first 12 weeks of Series 5 of ArtSound Radio Theatre.

A Reading Life will run in the same time slots as ART: 4pm Sunday and 10pm Monday.

Bart will co-host the new series of A Reading Life with Rebecca Vassarotti. They will be in conversation with successful Canberra writers including Karen Viggers, Kaaron Warren, Zoya Patel and Freya Marske.

Policy on Use of AI in Broadcasts

The ArtSound Board in July approved a new policy that aims to regulate the use of so-called “artificial intelligence” in ArtSound broadcasts.

All kinds of organisations are struggling to deal with the onset of the set of machine learning tools that are characterized as “artificial intelligence” and “generative AI.”

ArtSound has an interest in “AI” because we champion the use of human intelligence in artistic pursuits.

Organisations with far more legal and administrative resources than ArtSound may need to pin down the dimensions and implications of “AI” — and struggle to do so — but ArtSound’s key interest is to assert its interest in artistic practice. So, the new Board policy

This policy does not possess the hard-and-fast, painstaking wording that lawyers and administrators may prefer; rather, it relies on the plasticity of thought that arts practitioners and supporters embrace.

ArtSound will seek to maintain broadcast production levels as high as it reasonably can, given the limitations of a non-professional, all-volunteer work force. This means that ArtSound will not use machine-generated voices and similar effects that may be inadequate in various ways: e.g., they may mispronounce local placenames and other words, or the voices may sound non-human to discerning ears, or recourse to using them may harm our image as an alternative to commercial approaches that are at odds with artistic practices.

By far the majority of possible uses of AI would be disservices to our core goal of offering genuine support of arts activities. This is admittedly a complicated consideration, so ArtSound would subject itself to futile labour and anxiety if it were to seek to specify policy around every conceivable use of “AI”; rather, it can rely on a general re-statement of ArtSound’s approach to broadcasting — its broadcasting “ethos.”

So, ArtSound’s approach will be, instead, to rely on its communications capacity, which can produce announcements quickly and capably, even at the last minute, without needing to resort to AI-generated voicing.

That emphasis notwithstanding, ArtSound broadcasts may, from time to time, employ “AI” in the course of reflecting upon AI — artistically and in other ways. So, for example, a radio-theatre production may employ AI-generated script in order to comment on the nature, impositions, limitations, and implications of AI for artistic practice or human life more generally.

Still, by far the majority of possible uses of AI would be disservices to our core goal of offering genuine support of arts activities. This is admittedly a complicated consideration, so ArtSound would subject itself to futile labour and anxiety if it were to seek to specify policy around every conceivable use of “AI”; rather, it can rely on a general re-statement of ArtSound’s approach to broadcasting — its broadcasting “ethos.”

You can read the policy here.

Call for radio-drama scripts

You, too, could be featured in an ArtSound Radio Players production. If you have a script that would be suitable for radio, or even an idea for a radio play but you’re not sure where to start, get in touch with ArtSound Radio Theatre, which airs Sundays at 4pm (repeated Mondays at 10pm). The highly experienced troupe may be able to help. Write to help@artsound.fm.

ArtSound production unit

Do you have skills or ideas for audio production? For example, have you wanted to create a series of short items about some aspect of ACT-region arts and culture?

ArtSound is expanding our production of promotional and sponsorship (advertising) announcements, along with short items to drop into our regular programming.

The latter could be, for example, segments about Canberra-region arts, culture, history, architecture, social services… They could be anything that fits into our overall programming ethos.

ArtSound has the production capacity, and producers already working in this area of content creation. If you’d like to join them, or have ideas to share, get in touch via help@artsound.fm.

Canberra Southern Cross Club sponsorship

ArtSound is back on the Canberra Southern Cross Club Community Rewards list, which allows ArtSound supporters to contribute to our coffers simply by dining at the club’s various facilities.

Under the program, as a patron of the club, you can go to this link: https://csccmarketing.wufoo.com/forms/m1ti98210e4gdsx/ and add your CSCC member details. Then, every time you buy food and drinks at the CSCC, ArtSound will get 7.5% of what you spend, and the money goes towards our equipment upgrades and running costs.

It’s a sweet deal for all concerned.

ArtSound’s podcasting meetup

Members are invited to attend ArtSound’s fortnightly Podcasting Meetup. It’s an informal gathering of podcast enthusiasts — some experienced, some beginners — who discuss podcast skills, approaches, and content.

The group generally meets every second Monday from 5:30-6:30pm in ArtSound’s dedicated podcast studio. The date of next meeting is being determined, but it’ll be a Monday this month.

To inquire about joining in, write to podcast@artsound.fm.

2025 ArtSound membership marathon

Through all of 2025, ArtSound is running a membership drive.

Annual fees are modest: individual membership, $75; family membership $110; concessional membership (with seniors or student ID) $50 per year.

For a limited time, new members will receive a free copy of the latest ArtSound Press publication, Gertrude’s Sweetheart: Monologues for Readers and Actors.

ArtSound aims to increase the benefits that members enjoy. Already members, and non-members, receive 24/7 radio every day of the year, but we’d also like to increase the number and range of businesses that will offer discounts to our members. We’ll list these on our website’s membership page.

Can you help us to identify or recruit such business supporters? If so, please write to help@artsound.fm.

Donations

We’re always grateful to receive donations to support our work, which includes featuring about 1,000 ACT-region artists on air annually along with specialty programming that supports and fosters arts activities in the ACT region.

ArtSound does this as an all-volunteer community radio station with expenses that run to more than $120,000 each year, almost half of them from the costs of transmitting to the ACT from Black Mountain and Mt Taylor.

If you can help, please do so. Simply use the QR code below to go directly to the ArtSound donation page. Or get in touch to talk about how you might help: admin@artsound.fm or 6295 7444.

Support ArtSound in any of many ways

Opportunities to help out at ArtSound are many. Some of them are:

Welcoming Committee members

Communications team members

Advertising reps

Presenters

Program producers and assistants

Music library helpers

We should let you know that our music library is one of the most enjoyable areas of our operations, according to volunteers who have spent many hours there.

The key task is to catalog new CDs. Working in the library provides an opportunity to witness and edge one’s way into many aspects of station operations.

Please write to help@artsound.fm or phone 6295 7444.

Seeking volunteers for the reception desk

Want to meet some of ArtSound’s presenters, get a better understanding of how ArtSound works, and contribute to the smooth running of the organisation? Then please join the friendly members of our welcoming committee who staff ArtSound’s reception desk.

Members of the Welcoming Committee generally cover a four-hour shift from 10am-2pm on one weekday a week or fortnight.

To learn about this and other volunteering opportunities at ArtSound, please email help@artsound.fm, or phone 6295 7444 weekdays between 10am and 2pm.

ArtSound FM’s mission is to cultivate a vibrant arts community in the ACT region. Your memberships and donations sustain our year-long programming including our artist-centred features and interviews and our many broadcasts of live recordings of concerts in and around Canberra.

Thank you for being part of ArtSound!

Please go online to artsound.fm to take out membership or donate.

Or, send your contact details and a description of how you think you can help to help@artsound.fm.

Or phone (02) 6295 7444 — if necessary, please leave a message and we’ll get back to you.

Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible.

ArtSound is an all-volunteer community radio station.

And if you have any suggestions about items to include in this bulletin, please send them to newsletter@artsound.fm at least three days before the end of the month.